Landscape architecture student wins NOMA Student of the Year Award

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Anjelyque Easley, a fourth-year landscape architecture student from Philadelphia, was named the recipient of the Student Member of the Year Award at the 46th annual National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Conference in Chicago. 

Easley, a member of the Philadelphia chapter of NOMA (PhilaNOMA), was nominated for the national award by Tya Winn, president of PhilaNOMA. Winn, a program director for Habitat for Humanity, first met Easley while the latter was a student participating in Project Pipeline. Project Pipeline is a summer camp run by PhilaNOMA that introduces middle school students to the field of architecture and design. It is where Easley was a student herself and later a volunteer teaching assistant during her summers back home.

“Anjelyque has been an exemplary member [of NOMA], first being introduced as a participant in PhilaNOMA’s Project Pipeline Camp as a high school student and continuing on as she pursues her degree in landscape architecture at Penn State,” said Winn. “This year we are especially proud of the work she did during her summer internship [at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum], which focused on planning in African-American communities. There is no limit to her future potential and we are so excited to see such an intelligent, dedicated young woman continue to excel in the architecture and design field.”

Monique McCray, vice president of PhilaNOMA who has also worked closely with Easely, echoed Winn’s sentiments.

“She is a shining example of the influence and power of NOMA as an organization and the importance of mentorship, representation and early exposure to the architecture fields,” said McCray, who is a Penn State alumna with a degree in architecture.

Easley knew she wanted to be a landscape architect since her sophomore year at the Charter High School of Architecture and Design. She has remained committed — and incredibly successful — to her pursuit, currently serving as president of the Penn State chapter of the National Organization of Student Architecture Students (NOMAS) and as a member of both the Landscape Architecture Student Society and the Landscape Architecture Leaders.

Easley, who is minoring in Jewish studies, is further embedded in the Penn State community as a student ambassador for the College of Arts and Architecture, a teaching assistant at the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Summer Camp and a mentor to third-year landscape architecture student Ethan Bartos. 

The list of accolades she has accumulated during her time at Penn State — at both the university and departmental levels — is nothing short of impressive. She is the recipient of the Penn State Antonio and Emily Sallack Success Scholarship in Educational Equity and the Charles and Sharon Bell Scholarship for Citizenship and Leadership. Easley has also earned awards for excellence in design, planting implementation, service and leadership, and she is the recipient of scholarships for design excellence, travel abroad and educational leadership within the Department of Landscape Architecture.

Receiving the NOMA award at its annual conference Oct. 17-20 came as a surprise for Easley, who said she was shaking when her name was called by Melanie Ray, a 1995 Penn State architecture alumna and past president of the Penn State NOMAS chapter. An architect in the Housing & Mixed-Use Studio for Hord Coplan Macht in Baltimore, Ray is the NOMA Northeast university liaison. 

“It is such an honor to receive the 2018 Student Member of the Year award from NOMA and I will cherish the memories and people I've met at the annual conference over the years,” said Easely. “Being a part of NOMA has given me the opportunity to meet professionals, who have become my mentors, and it has also given me the platform to become a role model for minority students at Penn State and in Philadelphia.”

The mission of NOMA is “to champion diversity within the design professions by promoting the excellence, community engagement, and professional development of its members.” The national conference brings together more than 600 minority architects, urban designers, community activists and design students from across the country. 

Nominations for the Student Member of the Year Award are submitted by the student’s member chapter in recognition of his or her outstanding service, involvement in the organization and participation in chapter events. The NOMA Awards Committee and the Executive Committee then determine the winner.

Six other Stuckeman students, all architecture students, joined Easley at the conference and helped celebrate her award: Meghan Davis, Maleick Flemming, Josh Huang, Ryan Lo, Hauwa Mahmoud and Nuwee Mpolokeng.